NEW YORK — (AP) — Small businesses had a merry December, as shoppers wrapped up their holiday shopping.
That’s according to the Fiserv Small Business Index.
In the U.S., the seasonally adjusted index for December was 146, up 3 points from November. The figure is derived from point-of-sale transaction data, including card, cash, and check transactions in-store and online across about 2 million U.S. small businesses.
“Small business sales continued their growth in December despite consumer spending patterns beginning to shift,” said Prasanna Dhore, Chief Data Officer at Fiserv. “Notably, consumers diverted more spend to service-based business, retail spending continued to display strength, and consumers spent less dining out as average restaurant ticket sizes continued to decline.”
Fiserv, a payment and financial services technology company, found that small business sales rose 4.9% and total transactions grew 5.5% from December the year prior.
That echoed trends at larger businesses. The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, …